According to executive orders of New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a state of emergency is issued in the state due to a spike in new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.
The executive order states, “Whereas, New York is now experiencing COVID-19 transmission at rates the State has not seen since April 2020. Whereas, the rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions has been increasing over the past month to over 300 new admissions a day. I do hereby declare a State disaster emergency for the entire State of New York through January 15, 2022."
Countries like United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and many European countries imposed new restrictions on foreign nationals travelling due to the new strain.
“We continue to see warning signs of spikes this upcoming winter, and while the new omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York state, it’s coming,” said Kathy Hochul.
Omicron, detected in Botswana and South
Africa, has raised red-flag across the world over an alarmingly huge number of
spike mutations that may make the virus more immune to the vaccines, increase
its transmission and result in more severe Covid-19 symptoms.
According to WHO, "this variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests that this variant has a higher risk of reinfection than other VOCs."
Also read: Omicron: New Covid variant to be “of concern,” spreads 6 to 7 times faster than delta variant
Healthcare experts have dubbed omicron a "super strain" because it has more than 30 mutations, more than any other variant and twice as many as delta.
As the variant is spreading at a fast pace, now there is a risk that a new wave may emerge in the world. According to the latest report by the health organisation, the new variant is spreading seven times faster than the most fast spreading variant – Delta. The B.1.1.529 variant is also mutating at a fast speed.